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April 7, 2017

The public is cordially invited to a special reading to celebrate National Poetry Month and the launch of State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall’s state-wide poetry anthology, WA129, which includes a poet for each year of Washington statehood.

The event will feature live music from The Bushwick Book Club of Seattle. Light refreshments will be served. Readings and recitations from anthology contributors, Tod Marshall, and special guests.

WA129 is a project of the Washington State Poet Laureate Program, funded by Humanities Washington and the Washington State Arts Commission. The anthology is designed and published by Sage Hill Press, Spokane.

November 29, 2016

And speaking of poets laureate, congratulations to the most recent, Amy Solomon-Minarchi, who has been named the first poet laureate of Olympia, Washington. A teacher (American Literature, World Literature, Creative Writing, Philosophy) at North Thurston High School, Solomon-Minarchi grew up in New Jersey, and moved to Washington in 2005. She holds a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing from Rutgers University and a Master in Teaching from the Evergreen State College. Learn more about Amy Solomon-Minarchi, her poetry, and her plans for her two-year appointment, in an interview with Janine Gates on Little Hollywood.

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July 30, 2016

Kahini has announced that registration is now open for “Writing The Body,” a one-day workshop happening on September 24, 2016, at the Monkeypod House in Olympia, Washington.

“Spend a full Saturday in September getting in touch with the sensory details and stories of our own bodies — and finding the inspiration and craft elements to turn these stories into a short-short story, poem, or short essay of 500 words or fewer.”

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May 24, 2016

This is last week’s news, but in case you missed it, it’s worth a mention. On Tuesday, May 17, 2016, a group of advocates for the $15 minimum wage used their three-minute public comment slot to express themselves in front of the Olympia, Washington, City Council in what Andy Hobbs at The Olympian calls “the first organized poetry slam at an Olympia council meeting.”

In his article on the event, Hobbs says, “council members praised the speakers — and even responded with poetry of their own.” Mayor Pro Tem Nathaniel Jones recited part of a poem and Council member Jim Cooper said, “This is the most beautiful public comment in my four and a half years on the City Council.”
. . . . .Hoffman Construction Company photo

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January 6, 2016

Olympia, Washington, has a new stretch of public art: about 1,500 feet of sidewalk and wall along West Bay Drive that offers safer passage for pedestrians along with haiku poetry. “Walking on Land by Water” is a collaboration between Seattle artist Carolyn Law, who designed the project, and poet Lucia Perillo, who interpreted and wrote haiku inspired by the writing of Kobayashi Issa.

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November 14, 2013

One of the recurring topics on the Boynton Blog is poetry walks, inspired by the Poetry Walk in front of the Bellingham Public Library, which is such a vital ongoing feature of the Sue Boynton Poetry Contest.

Today, those two threads cross as we add another poetry walk to the growing list. With the death of Hypatia-in-the-Woods founder, Elspeth Pope, and the subsequent listing for sale of a large portion of her property (but not Holly House), the Jeanne Lohmann Poetry Trail installed near Holly House had to find a new home. Happily, it did: the wooded grounds of Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, Washington.